356 J. SANDERS 



Zurich also it was found that the birthrate among the working classes was 

 not higher than that of the better situated. The figures collected by Lotze 

 in Stuttgart and by Freudenberg in Berlin showed the same results. I my- 

 self have found in Rotterdam that the birthrate of the working classes has, 

 in the last 50 years declined much more than amongst the upper classes of 

 the population, so that one may say that there is in this respect a strong 

 tendency to level up. 



12. The decline in the birthrate is not so much a biological and physiological 

 phenomenon as a psychological, moral and cultural phenomenon, that is a vol- 

 untary one. 



It cannot be assumed that the decline of the birthrate is the result of endo- 

 genic causes, that is a physiological decline of fecundity. Several phenom- 

 ena plead against this, such as: 



(1) Such a big decline in the birthrate of more than 50 per cent in 50 years 

 cannot be biological because biological changes usually take place much 

 more slowly. 



(2) Statistics go to prove that after a child's death another child is born 

 much more quickly than if no child had died. In other words the birth in- 

 terval is shorter after a child's death. 



(3) A difference in the birthrate amongst different strata of the popula- 

 tion can never be explained from endogenic causes. 



(4) The same applies to the difference in the birthrate in the various reli- 

 gious groups. 



13. Here and there in the higher social strata of the population there is now a 

 tendency to increase the number of children. 



We see that in Bremen, in the wealthy districts, the birthrate is at present 

 a trifle higher than it was at the beginning of this century. The same fact 

 has been observed in Amsterdam and in Paris. The cause of this is not yet 

 quite clear. It is my opinion that had we been spared the world crisis the 

 phenomenon would have been observed in many more cities. Who has 

 ears to hear what is going on in the upper classes will discover that the former 

 objections to larger families have disappeared or at least been weakened. 

 People are even heard to say that it is again fashionable to have three or four 

 children. I foresee, therefore, the possibility of an increased birthrate 

 among the upper strata of society. In how far this will increase the total 

 number of children, one cannot tell. But I do not believe that the increase 

 will be a big one. 



14. In the long run this increase in the number of children will be imitated 

 by the lower classes. 



This phenomenon of an increased birthrate — it would perhaps be more 



